This invention relates generally to floating devices and, more particularly, to a floating waterfowl decoy having an anchor assembly to keep the decoy in a relatively stationary position on the water yet having rotational movement and a speaker that can be actuated by radio frequency remote control to enhance the clandestine effectiveness of the decoy.
The use of floatable “decoys” having a shape and even painted configuration that looks like a genuine waterfowl have been used for decades by hunters to create or recreate an environment that is hospitable and alluring to real waterfowl in an effort to get them to fly and land on the water. Then, when one or more of the real ducks is in range of a shotgun blast, the hunter is able to take a shot and, if successful, kill one or more of the ducks. The problem with placing decoys on the water, of course, is that wind and water currents may cause all the decoys to float away or accumulate together along the edge of the body of water or, worse yet, drift away down a connected stream or river.
Various devices have been proposed to prevent decoys from floating away, including decoys having weights that extend into the water and anchor the decoy in place. Although presumably effective for their intended purposes, these devices and proposals still lack full effectiveness in that, while looking like a duck, they don't act like a duck and may not be as alluring to real waterfowl as would be desirable.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an anchored floating apparatus shaped and decorated in the form of waterfowl that includes a reel configured to selectively pay out or reel in an anchor line having an anchor. Further, it would be desirable to have an anchored floating apparatus having a receiver configured to actuate the reel when an actuation signal is received from a remote control device. In addition, it would be desirable to have an anchored floating apparatus having a speaker configured to emit authentic waterfowl or nature sounds and also to have structures for rotating the decoy body to simulate normal waterfowl movements.